4 trade targets that could replace Max Scherzer

The New York Mets got some bad news about Max Scherzer on Thursday. He will be out 6-8 weeks with a moderate-to-high grade oblique strain. The Mets now have another hole in their rotation that needs to be filled, after already losing Tylor Megill and having deGrom start the season on the IL.

Here are four starters additional starters not listed here who the Mets could trade for to fill Scherzer’s rotation spot.

Chad Kuhl is an underrated arm that could round out the Mets’ rotation.

Kuhl has started seven games and pitched 37.1 innings for the Colorado Rockies. He’s given up 31 hits, 16 earned runs, 13 walks, and he’s struck out 30 batters. His ERA is 3.86, his FIP is 3.92, his WHIP is 1.18, and his ERA+ is 119. Kuhl has yet to give up a homer, which is impressive with three of his starts being in Colorado.

Kuhl is primarily a sinker/slider guy, but he does have a changeup, curveball, and four-seamer that he mixes in. He generates excellent spin on his curveball, in the 91st percentile. He’s in the 72nd percentile in barrel rate, 65th percentile in whiff rate, 58th percentile in xwOBA and xERA, and 54th in chase rate. While he’s not a strikeout pitcher, he is capable of striking some guys out and he is almost average in walk rate (46th percentile).

The Colorado Rockies are going nowhere in the stacked NL West this year, and with Kuhl being a free agent this offseason, there’s no reason for the Rockies to keep him around if the opportunity to trade him presents itself. It won’t take much, which should make Kuhl appealing to the Mets, as well as other contending teams that need a guy to eat innings. The Rockies have a couple of other starters that could be on the move as well, in lefties Kyle Freeland and Austin Gomber, and righty German Marquez.